PS5, PS4's Elden Ring Is 'Very Difficult But Can Be Handled'

Glad Miyazaki isn't giving in and adding in an easy mode. Gotta git gud. I give him respect for it as well since he doesn't give a damn about opening up to more players.

@Nepp67 You could always just play on the ‘hard’ difficulty. I did that with the demo for the Final Fantasy thing and it played similarly to a Souls game in terms of being punished.

@Nepp67 I’m puzzled by this view. What is the downside for you or whoever to someone playing the game at a lower difficulty?

As long as the game is made with hard mode as a priority, i wouldn't care if it had a dialled down easy mode that i'll never play. The platinum should be locked off to default difficulty though. We can't be watering that down.

Sounds similar to most of From games then not that I expected any different. I'm sure some folks are going to get upset about it but at the end of the day, it's the dev's decision.

Not every game is for everyone in the world. There are so many other games people can play that I never understood why From always got singled out for being too difficult. Hades and rogue likes in general are too difficult for me so I just moved on. Nothing wrong with just moving on.

looking forward to this. glad there is no difficulty options

Guys, please... just git gud...

@Nepp67 @nessisonett @FatalBubbles This Souls difficulty thing kinda puzzles me. I mean I beat CoDMW2 campaign on Veteran difficulty back in the day, almost drove me nuts. Tried Titanfall 2 on Master and gave up, it felt impossible. I mean DiRT Rally is Souls on wheels. MHWorld is another pain sometimes. Compared to most games on their hardest I find Souls games less difficult. Like Rockstar & FROM games, I feel like difficulty should be scrapped and games should be played as the dev intended.

I’ve always enjoyed From Software games and their difficulty, but hopefully ER’s boss fights are designed with solo players in mind. Their DLCs and Dark Souls 3’s later bosses felt like they pushed you too much to co-op.

Good news, the challenge of a game is what makes playing the game worth playing. Hand holding, intrusive hints and boring tutorials take all the agency away from the player to the point where you may as well watch a video instead.

@TheArt Having to play shooters on their hardest difficulty is just the most boring way to play those games. I mean I'm up for a challenge in shooters but not if it requires me to play so defensively by being behind cover every second cause a guy hit me in the shin and got me to critically low health.

@Nepp67 Well same could be said about constantly strafing, rolling to dodge attacks and hitting those giant monster enemies from behind, they all kinda look the same at some point.

@TheArt Pretty bad way of looking at it. In Dark Souls there is a variety of ways to fighting an enemy and not to mention far more variety in enemy types. Especially when they're melee types instead of simply shooting at you from a far.

I maxed out my supplemental health bar in Returnal (popped the trophy). Had the astronaut in my belt. A couple of heals at the L1 ready. Still got killed by the second biome boss. I'm learning the pattern, got it down to the last bar just under 20% before death, but the amount of time it took to get all that...ugh.

I love this frickin' game!

EDIT: To keep it on topic, if it's difficult, but fun...I'm game! Bring on Elden Ring!

@RubyCarbuncle i dislike this terminology too and i also dislike the "master race" conotation too..the souls games are meant to be hard and are not for the faint of heart which is why i love them so much..still building up the courage to face that ape boss again in sekiro..will have that mutha one day..

@huyi comments like this are far more toxic...try contributing something constructive..

It's clear that an 'easy mode' would kill the game s philosophy. Journalists like I saw on Kotaku demanding an easy mode are entitled children disguised as virtue signalling heroes haha
I get some people are genuine but this is not the type of game that can become a sort of family game. I'm not a skilled gamer but if there is no way to adapt your strategy then I move on knowing a game isn't for me. That you can upgrade your character should be acceptable enough.

No difficulty options then no purchase from me, same goes fro a lot of other people, these titles would sell way more if they included a difficulty option so the only people missing out are the developers on all that money

Perhaps best approach to games like this is difficulty scaling - so the more you die, the more support game gives you. That way they preserve the single difficulty mode, but the systems are designed to help players in need more organically until they get used to the systems.

Tbh the hype for Elden Ring is so high, i suspect this will perform well regardless of difficulty options and whether people have been put off by souls games in the past

@lacerz bragging moment (forgive me), I bagged the Returnal Platinum last night!!! Finished on 66 deaths one of my proudest trophy moments

At least the loading should be much quicker after dying on the newer consoles. What frustrates me in these games is just how long it takes to get back to the point of failure. Challenging, hard, punishing gameplay is one thing. Long load times, checkpoints spaced far apart (or not before a boss but with minions and then the boss) and the typical From camera issues does put me off these games somewhat.

no difficulty settings is a hard pass from me, my reaction times are awful and easy modes are often the only way I can play some games lmao.

Thank god there is no easy mode.

As long as there are no co-op trophies, i was chuffed that i could solo the Bloodborne platinum, would like to be able to at least try and do the same with Elden Ring.

Another darksouls in a new skin

@FatalBubbles my thoughts on this, are that if there was an easy option then the majority of people would take it and have a worse experience, myself included. The whole game is built around the difficulty, it would be like a bullet hell shooter with hardly any bullets. I do get why people think there should be easy modes, but I am also glad Miyazaki thinks he just wants to make difficult games. Also another thing people rarely point out is that From games have summons which is essentially the easy mode. On Demon's Souls Remake I summoned on most of the bosses and it never took more than a few attempts.

I'll handle it also on my difficulty level: play it if it ever comes to plus or now. If not... ehhh plenty of fish in that ocean.

@RubyCarbuncle yeah I really hate it aswell, they only use this response if they have nothing else Intelligent to say to you, even when you are critical about the game they use this generic reply 🙄🙄

@Northern_munkey nah, no thanks, what would you say to me? Parrot "git gud" in response? Been there, done that, don't have time for it

@JJ2 or the "man children's" ego that other people that are less skilled or less superior to them are enjoying the game the way they want instead of the way everyone else should play

That feels like a controlling spouse to me 😏😏

@The_New_Butler Yeah dude totally agree! I hate the "git gud" attitude. My best friend would die to be able to play Bloodborne, it's near impossible for him to beat the game.

@scpnightwing a physical disability, even naughy dog provides such amazing accessible options in the Lou 2 and they can be toggled off or on

For me, I'm a busy gal with a life/fiancé no time to commit to long games or nonsense like dying 100s of times for "Masochist" enjoyment so yeah I pass on these games most of the time, only played demon/dark souls 1,3, Bloodborne to completion but I wouldn't play new games in the series with lifestyle changes I have now, lots of physical health issues too.

@Bamila it's like cod games isn't it.... 😂😂

Got the platinum of Sekiro, once it clicks it’s not so bad (like all of their souls games to be honest).

Love his games. Can’t wait.

Good i l💖💛vehard games.lets go.word up son

@jcvandan I guess my question to this is who would have a worse experience? If it’s a game someone had wanted to play and now can because of a difficulty option, I would say their experience is far better, no?

I can see someone saying “well the developer wants you to play the game exactly like this and you’re going to die a lot or just not beat it”. If that’s the case, then that experience is just going to be awful for a lot of people and making it easier for them certainly wouldn’t be worse.

I kind of feel like these types of games are for people who are wired a certain way. It’s like people who are really into horror movies while millions of others have no interest because they just don’t like being scared. lol.

In the end, it’s From Software’s creation so they don’t have to do anything fans want. I think they probably miss out on a lot of revenue like this though. I played through Bloodborne when it came to PS+ but I wouldn’t pay for any of their games in case it was so hard that I hated it.

Git gud culture is toxic.

Not every gamer has the same natural skill level or time commitments to be able to play difficult games or "as the devs intended".

Worried about people getting platinum trophies?. Add one for completing it on hard.

There's no good argument for no difficulty options besides you being an elitist ass.

Well, that's one less game to add to the pile. Shame really the trailer looked pretty good.

Sounds like exactly what we want, cannot wait for this to drop.

???WHY??? Can't they stick a easier mode in their games for??? :-/ When I read a game is to hard it just puts me off buying it really. If someone wants to play it on easy mode and play it like that then - !!!LET THEM!!! I just finished playing Crash Bandicoot 4 and it was just to frustrating and difficult really And that just spoiled the game for me (+ I can complete hard games because in the PS1 days I 100% Crash 1 which was hard to do)

If Sekiro had a level up system (or anything) it would be an improvement.

Accessibility is good. The majority of games should have difficulty options and should be accessible to as many people as possible. The majority of games do provide accessibility. So my question is, with so many games out there providing that experience, why do the few like Souls need to change?

Ignore the git gud jerks. Souls in specific loses something by adding an easy mode. If you don't understand why that's important to its fans, you should be wary about asking for changes. These are my very favorite games because I can't turn down the difficulty. The bridge is burned. The only way to win is to change myself, not the world around me. An easy mode cheapens souls the same way a ski lift would cheapen Everest. This game is about the challenge of beating something that can't be adjusted to you. That's core to the experience. Changing it makes the game fundamentally not itself. If that's not appealing the game is not for you. Full stop. It should be okay that not every game is for every person.

As long as it isn't as demanding as Sekiro, I'll be alright. Got all the way to the end, but knew it would take me far too long to beat the final baddie.

Accessibility is more important than difficulty levels. If someone (ie me) doesn't have the time or skill that's not the games fault. It's unfortunate, but not everything can be for everyone. Providing the features so that at least everyone can try is important though.

personally I wouldn't throw a big hissy fit if they decided to introduce "easy" difficulty in Dark Souls type games. The only reason I'm resitant to it is it doesn't really fit with the themes/lore of the games. I can only speak for playing Dark Souls and Bloodborne (as in, I don't know anything about Sekiro, haven't got to that yet). But the story in Dark Souls is that your character dies countless times, and there are mechanics around that (losing humanity and having to regain it - losing your souls/blood echoes but having a chance to retrieve them). Dark Souls 2 straight up tells your character that they will die lots in the video that plays at the start of the game, and NPCs refer to the fact that "you've died many times". None of this would make any sense if they introduced a mode that you could just walk through for people who didn't want to have to die

I liked Jedi: Fallen Order a lot (and actually played it before any From Software games) - the combat and gameplay mechanics in that game are very souls-like, but it's a different kind of story to Dark Souls. In the story, Cal doesn't die countless times - when the player dies, you restart from the last checkpoint and the story, canon wise, is that he made it all the way through the story in one shot - so it makes perfect sense that that game has an easy difficulty setting for players who just don't want to die that much. You don't have to keep pounding your head against a brick wall to advance, you can just turn the difficulty down (it doesn't even deny you any trophies for doing this) and move the story forward.

Dark Souls in contrast, generally, is incredibly light on story (not on lore - you just don't learn a lot of the story by passively "advancing the story" if that makes sense) but an integral part of it is that you will die an awful number of times. Also the difficulty of Souls games is often over-hyped anyway. They're difficult but a lot of the challenge isn't necessarily having/gaining skills but learning how to deal with enemies/situations/areas - as evidenced by the fact that no matter how many souls games you play, you'll always die lots at first in the next one you play - not because From keep making them harder and harder but because they like to mix things up to work against the habits you've built up in previous games.

If you find a good summon, and not someone that just stands there and does nothing, it can make some of the more tricker encounter more manageable. I'm looking at you The Nameless King from Dark Souls 3. Also helping others overcome bosses and stuff with reward you, and is generally give a good feeling afterwards.

@RubyCarbuncle you said it perfectly. I love the Souls series and games in the genre, but I find the fandom to be one of the most toxic fandoms in gaming, outside of MOBAs and MMOs. There’s a sense of elitist entitlement around these games that I hate. I personally don’t care one way or the other about the difficulty not being able to be changed, but I don’t understand why so many people are so against it. “Git good” just makes you sound like an adolescent Neanderthal, how about instead, people play how they like to play. I get that it’s the developers’ vision and I respect that, but it’s the fandom that turns it into something elites and pretentious, not the developers. If they added a difficulty slider they could easily lock the Platinum behind the hardest difficulty allowing people to hold onto that elite sense if they really feel it’s necessary.

I hope the combat will be quite different to the souls games, never quite digged those. Sekiro looked nice though.

@FatalBubbles I feel that a big part if the souls games, is that when you start, you're meant to feel like everything is close to impossible, because you're just a scrap of ember, but as you play, level up, get armour and skills, etc. It's also reflected in the narrative that your character is becoming a 'lord', by which point, enemies are twice as mean and thrice as huge... it feels rewarding because it enforces you to play, but also feel, like the baddest mofo in the whole, twisted kingdom.
I feel like that would be a bit lost, if the game could feel 'easier' than intended? You can always grind to level up, if you can't succeed by other means!

@Salt_AU it's true. Can't count the amount of times I died fighting lady butterfly on sekiro. I was close to giving up, when eventually, it clicked! It was still a damn hard fight, but I got closer and closer, until I beat her, and stormed ahead... to the next tough boss!

@J2theEzzo I’m undecided on which option is right or wrong in terms of having difficulty.

I do think being able to level up as a workaround is a good addition.

Excellent. These games do not need an easy mode. You want to experience the entire game? ENDURE or spend your money on a Lego game if you are not looking to be challenged.

@JapaneseSonic I wouldn't call that cognitive dissonance - you just have a nuanced opinion. Part of the reason I don't think "easy mode" would work well with souls games is that the whole idea of "you die lots and learn/build up skills/level up over time until you can finally take on the endgame" isn't just a gameplay mechanic, it's baked into the lore and the style of the game. Having an easy mode in a game that's otherwise constantly dropping hints/flat out telling you that you're going to die constantly seems pretty contradictory. And I don't mind "souls-like" games that have different difficulty settings, I just think it doesn't really fit well with Dark Souls/FromSoftware games in particular

@FatalBubbles I get what you're saying but personally, something doesn't have to be fun and smooth all the time for it to be a good time. The whole part of the fun of these games is the massive frustration, because when you overcome it it's unbelievably satisfying. Think about puzzles, any sort of puzzle, what you're saying is a puzzle should be easy otherwise people won't like it. On the contrary, the fact that a puzzle is very hard is the reason people like it because once they solve it they get a big rush. Imo the From games are like this. It's just a really different sort of experience, and when people complain about it I just think why don't you play literally any other game?

Shame, looked good but I’ll give it a miss. I don’t have time/patience for hard games these days. I respect that they’ve made the game how they want to, but deliberately making the game super hard with no difficulty options does just shrink their audience.

@huyi
Haha I have no idea what you were trying to say.
I'm no DS gamer. Not skilled at all. So help me understand. I beat Demon Souls lately. (I found it easy)
What would you suggest to add as an easy mode? What would be different?

@Richnj
Git Gud is just a joke. It's not 'toxic'. Some people maybe toxic but nothing to do with the game.
Video games arent that serious. It's just about having fun with different types of games.

@Shakybeeves
Congrats! Well done! That's awesome!

the git gud thing is usually said in jest--people are very reactionary when they see that term and it is not usually being said sincerely

Balanced and curated difficulty is always better than arbitrary values such as "easy" and "normal".

There are a ton of games that have a single difficulty mode, yet no one talks about them or complains, as much as they do for From Soft.

I'm glad Miyazaki is sticking to his vision.

@JJ2 I'm not blaming the game itself, I'm decrying the attitudes of those who genuinely think that every one should "git gud".

And I know it started as a joke, and so did the 'pc master race', the problem is that there's always too many people who take video games seriously, who take git gud and PC master race seriously, and get fully invested in these elitisms.

I could source a million threads, but we only need to look at the Pushsquare articles of late, especially ones like the females in gaming and such, and the unironic crying going on.

I'm not a Soulslike fan as I've only played ~30 hours of DS1 and never even got close to beating it cause I got stuck in an early dungeon, so I'm the opposite of an elitist.

That said, I totally get where fans come from when they oppose an easy mode: it would kinda defeat the purpose of the whole game.
It's not meant to be a fantasy RPG walk through the park, it's meant to be punishing and that's exactly what it is.

Diluting the point of the game for the sake of inclusivity would be a huge shame; I'm always for artistic integrity, even if the result isn't for me.
DS definitely is not for me, but asking for an easy mode just because I'm not good enough would be just as selfish as the "git gud" elitists you find around, if not worse.

Oh and btw I terribly suck at this games but I managed several bossfights, it's not like it's impossible; the game also gives you EXP and summons to counter the high difficulty so it's not like you're left to your own devices.
If DS games really wanted to be "git gud" heaven, they wouldn't feature those "crutches" for less experienced players (see Sekiro).

@AndyKazama Different difficulty settings can be useful to someone easing in to harder difficulties, like wanting to do the game in a hard mode, but wants to build skills with the sandbox, level designs, or controls first.

They can also be helpful for a person who is completely capable of completing a game on hard, but might choose to play more casually depending on mood. I've completed many games on the hardest difficulty, but I don't always want a sweaty session on a repeat. I might just want to use the game to wind down after a hard week, rather than test my ability.

A single difficulty doesn't allow the player to choose their type of session. So the options allow everyone to cater their session to themselves. It's the curb cut affect.

@FatalBubbles yeah, I can equally see how important it is to have so many options for accessibility, as with TLOU2, which I didn't have to use, but still consider as an amazing thing to offer. Maybe it's worth having accessibility options, without being tied to difficulty, but I guess that's up to developers!

Wow, toxic in here.

@EchoRange Welcome to Souls games. I love them but dear Lord, the fandom are utterly dreadful to ‘outsiders’.

@jcvandan Maybe I’m just weird. I didn’t find Bloodborne very satisfying. Was just tedious for me. I’m guessing these games just don’t jive with me.

@Richnj
Idk. Myself I sometimes made the joke..
I think the point of the joke is its a deception.
You don't have to git gud, you don't have to become more skilled. You have to inform yourself on what works and what doesn't. Also simply looking up youtube tips is no shame. I do it.
And if you need to upgrade weapons, which weapon vs which enemy, what are the enemies weaknesses, to level up etc
Imo

Once they "click" for you From Software games are not especially difficult, the problem is the time it requires to get to that point. At this stage in my life I've got work and kids, I'm not going to spend my limited gaming time banging my head against the wall until I "git gud". Not adding a difficulty option plays well with the established fanbase, Dark souls was designed for a small group of specific players and it blew up along with a toxic false sense of superiority, but Elden Ring is AAA mass market game and it needs to reflect that in its accessibility.

@UltimateOtaku91 You are wrong on so many levels. Lol

From Software wouldn't be the juggernaut it is today if they included difficulty levels in their older titles. The entire reason they're the huge success they are is because they strayed from the norm and catered to a more hardcore audience.

Stop trying to make From something they're not.

@JJ2 "I think the point of the joke is its a deception."

So every single person that's ever said the words are all part of an in joke?

"You don't have to git gud, you don't have to become more skilled."

I don't have to git gud

"You have to inform yourself on what works and what doesn't. Also simply looking up youtube tips is no shame. I do it.
And if you need to upgrade weapons, which weapon vs which enemy, what are the enemies weaknesses, to level up etc
Imo"

I just have to git gud...

I'm actually starting to think you've embraced git gud culture and not realised it.

For the record, I'm good at games, I'm not arguing this for my sake. I'm arguing this based on the very varied nature of humans. Some have physical or mental disabilities that prevent them from just being able to compete on a certain level, and it doesn't need to a disability. Others don't have the time to spend half their session looking for strats on how to beat a game, others just don't have the interest.

If your answer to somebody trying to enjoy their hobby is anything other than "enjoy it however you want to", especially if your response is "you just have spend extra time and energy getting better" you are contributing to the toxic git gud culture.

I don't think every game needs to be accessible to every person. From Software games are very challenging and difficult - if you are up for the challenge, then play it. If not, don't.

I don't play them but enjoy watching some short videos to see how they play.

Vidya gaems are srs bsns. One must dedicate their life to honing their excellence. An exciting career in eSports awaits.

The challenge is part of the Soul's game world design, if you could walk through the game it would kind of negate that. It doesn't have to be for everyone, but the online component is there to help out. I've really enjoyed helping other players beat a difficult boss as I've progressed in the games, and certainly appreciated summoning help myself at points.

@FatalBubbles nah not weird, they're just not for you. People bang on about the Uncharted games but i think they are total garbage. Different drinks, different needs.

@jcvandan Well based on your last comment we are complete opposite. Haha.

When has there ever been a difficulty with From you either enjoy their titles enough to persist or you don’t

That’s why souls games were such a chore for me.

I finally rolled credits on Returnal today (yes, I realize there's more to do, but I'm still happy). I think that's enough super challenging game for me for a bit, LOL. I'll likely give this a shot someday, though.

@KeldorTheCursed ah I had a few pops at the last Biome and left it there, for the meantime lol. Safe in the knowledge there’s no more after that!

People complaining about the difficulty just like to complain. You aren’t owed anything from game developers. They can make the games however they want to. I love the way FromSoft handles difficulty. If you can’t handle it, just summon help or level up more. To me that’s better than just choosing a difficulty, which usually just boils down to adjusting enemy hp. Personally, I like a challenge, but I’ve also had a lot of fun helping people who want a hand.

@BoldAndBrash Find a different game then. That's all there is to it.

@Richnj
I mean, a lot of games need to immerse yourself and involve yourself a bit to enjoy them. It's not the same thing as the difficulty. I don't have the patience or motivation for a lot of games and thats OK. I think disability issues is more complex. I'm no expert in anything anyway. Sorry if you think I'm being part of a 'toxic' culture for sharing my thoughts. 🤷‍♂️
Have a nice weekend

@JJ2 Having to look up walkthroughs and strats isn't immersion. That's building up a skill and knowledge set to take on a challenge.

And I only said you contributed to the toxic attitude, because I've provided reasons difficult settings help a wide range of people, why they are good for everybody, why some people may genuinely need them, why other might want them, and how they can even help those who do actually want to get better at games, and your only rebute is that I should just get better. I didn't find it constructive.

Either way, I will have a great weekend, thanks. I hope you enjoy yours too.

@Richnj
I'm sorry, I'm very poor at communicating what I mean in a way easily understandable I guess.
Like I said, I believe disability issues in video games are complex and I'm no expert.

@BoldAndBrash Funny, you’ve got no time for grinding, but plenty of time for complaining. Thanks for proving my point.

Not this again, haha. The difficulty is built into Miyazaki's games. There has always been an 'easy' mode, calling friends for co-op, wearing certain armour, focusing on strength builds with high vitality etc.

When people ask for an easy option what they are really asking for is a win button or invincibility. At that point you might as well watch a play through on YouTube.

If its too difficult im not buying it. Just gonna watch a playthrough online instead. Problem solved.

@BoldAndBrash I agree 100%.

@huyi

"entitlement" dark souls fans are so toxic 🙄🙄

Ermmm sorry, but no. You've got that one completely and categorically wrong. Soulsborne fans are some of the best and most welcoming communities on-line (apart from a few plonkers!) They go out of their way to help and guide "newbies" to the games either on forums or by introducing them to the best online sources and guides (written by the same fans and communities).

@UltimateOtaku91

"No difficulty options then no purchase from me, same goes from a lot of other people, these titles would sell way more if they included a difficulty option so the only people missing out are the developers on all that money"

I say to yourself and "a lot of other people" that the game actually does have "difficulty options" in that you can summon NPCs and other players to help you fight, you are quite literally having an extra person (or up to 3) to fight alongside you, which will even up the odds should things get too heated. You're missing some wonderful games here with the Soulsborne titles, it's not Miyazaki/From Software putting up those barriers. It's YOU!

I love games but my gaming skills are below average. Why should I be denied a normal or easy option? Dark Souls players can always Play on higher difficulty and let me play and enjoy on mine. Every time I hear Souls like and the game doesn't have a lower difficulty, I end up not getting the game, even though it looks interesting.

@Kidfried keep going man, you can do it!